Buckle.



A. J. NORTHEY & F. A. McGEE.

BUCKLE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 6. I912.

Patented Nov. 23, 1915.

annex wow i m Z4 dwwww en ill T h ANDREW J. NORTHEY AND FRANK A. MC'GEE, or BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGN- ons TO THE WARNER BROTHERS COMPANY, or BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, A

CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

BUCKLE.

LIGIJMLT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 2a, 1915.

Application filed May 6, 1912. Serial No. 695,329.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, ANDREW J. NoR'rHEY and FRANK A. MCGEE, both citizens of the United States of America, and both residing at Bridgeport, Fairfield county, State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Buckles, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to an improvement in buckles and the objects of the invention are to produce a buckle which will be thin, easy to operate, inexpensive to manufacture, readily adaptable to use in connection with webbing of any thickness,'and which may be strung rustless Other features of the invention are that there are no teeth to puncture or injure the webbing in any way, a feature which renders the invention of particular value in connection with fancy or silk webbing, and that the front and back of the buckle are smooth and without objectionable protub'eranc'es or humps.

In the following we have described, in connection with the accompanying drawings, one form of buckle illustrating our invention and have shown in connection therewith one way of stringing the same with webbing.

In the drawings Figure l is a perspective view, from the front, of a buckle embodying our invention, the buckle being shown in open position with the finger lever raised; Fig. 2 is a perspective view. of the finger lever detached; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the frame member detached; Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the sliding clamp member detached; Fig. 5 is a rear, elevation of the buckle as shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is edge view of the structure as shown in Figs. 1 and 5; Fig. 7 is an edge view of the same with the finger lever in closed position; Fig. 8 is an edge view of the buckle in closed position, strung with webbing so as to produce a rust-less back; Fig. 9 is a vertical sectional view of the buckle and webbing as shown in Fig. 8; Fig. 10 is a vertical sectional view of a buckle and webbing illustrating a modification of construction; Fig. 11 is a perspective View of a modification of the sliding clamp member detached. Fig. 12 is a perspective view of a modification of the frame member detached.

as shown. The upper bar may be substantially continuous, as shown in Fig. at, or may terminate in pintles at each end in the well known manner, as shown in Fig. 11. The frame may also be made from wire and comprises a lower bar d, loops 6, c, passing around or turned over the outer edges of end bars 6,1 upright bars 7, f, and an upper bar 9, arranged parallel to an adjacent upper bar a of the clamp member. The upper bar 9 may also be substantially continuous, as shown in Fig. 3, or may terminate in pintl'es at each end in the well known manner, as shown in Fig. 12. The loops 6, e, may slidably engage end bars Z), 72, and are shown as extending in the same plane as lower bar 03, the upright bars f,f being shown as extending at right angles to that plane. The finger lever may be made from sheet metal and comprises a fingerpiece h and a hinge or cam member 2', adapted to inclose upper bars 0 and g of the sliding clamp and frame respectively; as shown, the hinge 2', incloses bars 0 and g in such manner that 'bar 9 acts as a fulcrum for bar 0, so that when the buckle is closed from open position, bar 0 is raised, relative to bar 9, and carried up and over the top of bar 9 toward the front of the buckle. The hinge 2' may be either continuous as shown in Fig. 1, or in the form of cars as shown in Fig. 2.

The buckle, in open position, is shown in Figs. 1 and 6, where the upper bar 9 of the frame is shown as lying in front of and slightly above upper bar 0 of the sliding clamp. .The act of closing the buckle by pressing down the finger piece 71., reverses this position andsprings or carries the upper bar 0 up and over upper bar 9, to a position in front 'of the same, as is shown in Figs. 7 and 9. When upper bar 0 in its upward and rotary movement, has passed the dead center of itself with relation to upper bar 9 the parts are locked in closed position. v

The buckle may be strung restless by passing one end of the webbing from back to front over lower bar (Z of the frame and securing it upon itself by stitches it. The other end j of the Webbing is then threaded upward between the secured end of the webbing and the lower bar a of thesliding clamp and through the opening between the said secured end of webbing and the hinge or cam member 2' of the finger lever as shown in Fig. 9.

By comparing Figs. 6 and 7, it will be noted that the sliding clamp and the frame have a. vertical sliding movement with relation to each other, so that when the buckle is in closed and locked position the lower bar d of the frame and the lower bar a of the sliding clamp, approach each other closely and, when the buckle is strung with webbing, pinch the running length of the webbing between them, causing the webbing to be deflected over lower bar a of the sliding clamp, as shown in Fig. 9. It will also be noted that the hinge or cam member 2' of the finger lever, when the buckle is in closed and locked position, acts to deflect the running length of the webbing in a direction opposite to the deflection caused by the lower bar 03 of the frame and hence assists in putting the webbing under tension when in use.

In Fig; 10 we have shown a modification of the invention wherein the 'bars f, f are shortened so as to decrease the size of the opening between lower bar 9 and hinge or cam member 2' of the finger lever. This permits the running length of the webbing to be pinched between the hinge i of the finger lever and the secured end of the webbing as Well as between the secured end of the webbing and clamping bar a. The relationship of the bars a, c, d, g are as hereinabove described with the exception that the bars 0 and g are caused to approach the bars a and d somewhat more closely than in the structure illustrated in the other figures of the drawings.

While we have described a way-of stringing the buckle with webbing so as to produce a rtistless.baclr, it is obvious that other methods of stringing may be followed. ,lVe do not restrict ourselves to any of the details of construction of the buckle as shown and described on to any particular method of webbing the same, further than the scope of theappended claims demands.

What we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

I 1. A buckle, comprising a sliding clamp, a frame, and a finger lever, the clamp having a top member in pivotal connection with the finger lever, a lower clamping bar and bowed end bars connecting the top member of the clamp and the clamping bar, the

frame having a lower bar arranged substantially parallel with the clamping bar of the clamp, horizontally arranged loops through which the end bars of the clamp pass, upright bars rising vertically from the loops out of line with the lower bar of the frame and a top bar in pivotal engagement with the finger lever but eccentrically with relation to the engagement of the top member of the clamp therewith.

In a buckle, a frame, a clamp, substantially horizontally arranged loops on the frame including the bottom bar of the frame as a common member and ends turned out and around the outer edges of the end bars of the clamp, a lever and a hinge on the lever adapted to hold the upper bars of the frame and clamp together against each other and to impart a relatively vertical movement to the frame and clamp.

3. In a rustless buckle, the combination with a frame-member having at its lower end a horizontal clamping-bar, of a levermeinber pivotally mounted upon the upper portion of the said frame-member, a clamping-member pivotally connected at its upper end with the said lever-member eccentric to the pivotal connection of the same with the frame-member and having at its lower end a horizontal clamping-bar extending below the clamping-bar of the frame-member, and a length of webbing the fastening end of which is looped directly over the clamping-bar at the lower end of the framemember and passed between the said bar and the clamping-bar at the lower end of the said clamping member, and the running portion of which is passed from rear to front between the clamping-bar at the lower end of the clamping-member and the clamping-bar of the said frame-member, and then from front to rear over the clamping-bar of the said frame-member and upward behind the upper portion of both of the said members and the upper portion of the said lever, the running portion of the webbing being drawn upward and clamped by the clamping-bar of the clamping-member against the loop formed by the fasteningend of the webbing and against the under portion of the clamping-bar of the said frame-member.

4. In a rustless buckle, the combination with a loop-like frame-member having at its lower end a straight horizontal clamping-bar, of a lever-member pivotally mounted upon the upper portion of the said loop-like frame-member, a loop-like clamping-member pivotally connected with the upper portion of the said lever-member and having at its lower end a straight horizontal clamping-bar extending below the horizontal clamping-bar at the lower end of the Lin tween the said bar and the clamping-bar at the lower end of the said clamping-member, and the running portion of which is passed from rear to front between the clampingbar at the lower end of the clamping-memher and the clamping-bar of the said framemember, and then from front to rear over the clamping-bar of the said frame-member and upward behind the upper portions of both of the said members and the upper portion of the said lever, the running portion of the webbing being clamped by the clamping-bar of the clamping-member against the under portion of the loop formed by the fastening end of the webbing and against the under portion of the clampingbar of the said frame-member.

5. The combination with a buckle having a frame and a clamp vertically slidable with relation to each other and each having an upper and a lower bar, a lever and means connecting the lever and the upper bars of the frame and clamp and holding said bars together against each other in bearing relationship, of a webbing having one end secured to the lower bar of the frame and the other end passed upward between the secured end and the lower bar of the clamp and through the space between the secured end and the lever, the closing of the lever imparting a relatively vertical movement to said lower bars so as to cause the same to approach each other, and locking the upper bars against each other.

6. In a buckle, a frame comprising a top bar and end bars in the same plane and a loop member lying in a plane substantially at right angles to said first-mentioned plane and laterally beyond each of said end bars, a clamp of greater width than the length of the top bar of the frame passing down vertically through said loop member of the frame, the clamp having a bottom bar extending beneath said bottom member of the frame, and also having a top bar and end bars intermediate its top and bottom bars and inwardly bent relative to the frame, and a hinge connecting the top bars of the clamp and frame so as to carry the top bar of the clamp over the top bar of th frame and to cause the bottom bar of the clamp to approach the bottom member of the frame.

In testimony whereof we have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ANDREW J. NORTHEY. FRANK A. MCGEE. Witnesses:

LUoIEN T. WARNER, W. P. ALLEN.

' Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

